The summer had... been difficult. There was not denying that much. Jake had gone to America feeling anxious, and come home feeling haunted. The feeling had only grown when he'd found the letter from the Ministry informing him of his friend's untimely death. He'd left Lucy for only a week, no more, and in that time...

Jake had not known what to do, in truth, it was difficult to know how to juggle it all in that moment.

But, no matter what life was throwing at him, he kept moving, kept doing, kept being the rock his children needed him to be in this tough time. The tiredness had set in with Jake now though. When he was not at work, he was with his children, except for one day a week. One day a week, he closed his eyes as he Floo'd to America, and then apparated to Carmel. One day a week... he tried so very hard to make amends for what he'd done almost a decade ago... Tried...

Jake shook himself back in to the room in that moment, jolting quite violently as he tried to put the images of Azalea behind him. It would not do well to get lost right now.

Elena didn't mind DADA, in fact she loved it. She loved learning and being able to feel free whenever she was in the class. She thought it was a great learning opportunity for her when it came to real life outside of Hogwarts. Of course her turning 15 soon she was almost 17 and could use magic to defend herself without getting in trouble. But it also helped in her wanting to be a healer. Whether it be for Hogwarts or for witches and wizards outside of school.

Elena walked in and gave a polite nod to the Professor. She didn't like to greet the Professors with simply saying words but by action since they probably get greeted with words every single time someone walks into a classroom. So she will settle for gestures instead and save the greetings for her friends whenever she gets a chance to see them.

Truth be told, Mimosa didn't know what was going on between Ji Hyun and Squid Boy. She also didn't really much care because who cared about boys anyway? It probably had something to do with the giant squid Squid Boy insisted lived in the lake despite not having found any evidence all of last year.

What did bother her was how the two boys were now in every single class she was in. Mimosa was almost sure she hand't shared every single class with those two last year, and now they were with her all the time, flanking her wherever she went. What was worse, the presence of Ji Hyun brought Bushrah along too.

And though Mimosa wasn't going to admit it, she was also muffled at the lack of Gaspard this school year, Where was he? Did he not know he was supposed to be around her when she wanted him to? He couldn't possibly have anything more important to do than be around her.

So while the child was not in the best of moods as she walked into Defense Against the Dark Arts with half a dozen Slytheirn first and second years, her mood did brighten up when she saw the professor she had taught some Quidditch to last time they'd met. "Hiya Jake!" she greeted the man with a big smile, leaving her following behind to find their seats and heading straight for Jake's desk.

"Jake, I went to India and it was amazing. I got presents," she squealed, pulling out two large parcels that only fit in her bag due to the magical storage capacity. The large blue parcel was clearly marked with Jake's name and contained a scale model of the Taj Mahal, wooden carving of the warrior god from Kerala and a box of laddoos. The pink parcel was marked with Victoria's name and contained a pink, Kanjivaran saree Mimosa had picked out herself along with matching bangles and another box of laddoos

"Could you please pass Victoria's presents to her," Mimosa asked, looking up at the man expectantly. "I don't know where she lives but that shuldn't kep her from getting her presnets."

Mercy was beyond excited for the first Defense class of the year. Jake always seemed to have something fun planned, and she knew Mimosa was in her class, so that meant it was automatically going to be a good day. She'd missed her best friend a lot over the summer, so when they'd finally met up at the train station and gotten ice cream, Mercy's mood had soared and had not come down since.

Something about Mimosa must have changed while she was in India. Mercy couldn't quite place it, but there was something...different about their interactions. When they'd met at the station, and Mimosa had stepped out of her limousine, Mercy couldn't help but notice...something. Obviously, the girl was radiant like always, sporting a glowing tan and looking like the model she was. But there was something more. Something that made Mercy smile every time Mimosa looked at her. Something that made Mercy extremely aware of Mimosa's hand in hers as they boarded the train, and made her feel strangely empty once they finally let go.

Whatever it was, it made her want to be around Mimosa more than ever, so stepping into the classroom to see the Slytherin already there made Mercy's day brighten even further. She immediately crossed the room to where the girl was standing, talking to Jake.

She waved exuberantly at her professor. "Hi, Jake! Guess what? I grew five centimeters over the summer!"

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Mercy Williams || 13 || Gryffindor || Werewolf

Credits to Ruby for the awesome sig!

GuestGuest

Subject: Re: DADA: Lesson One -- Years 1 - 4 Wed May 16, 2018 9:24 pm

Jade walked confidently into the classroom. This would be her first Defense Against the Dark Arts class and she was excited, to say the least. First, she took a look around the room. It seemed as if she was one of the last students to arrive to this class. Odd. No desks or chairs for the students. Does the professor expect us to stand the whole time? Her eyes quickly had the front of the class in sight. The first thing she noted was the student talking to the professor. Small talk with the professor before the lesson? What's that all about? The second thing was the blackboard. Catching Cornish Pixies. Something clicked in her head. She immediately went to the back of the room, where no one could look over her shoulder and opened her book, to see if she can quickly find something on those pixies. She wondered how much time she had left, as her eyes nervously jumped from page to the professor then to the next page again. If I only could find it! If I know what to do, I may be able to impress the professor. But after a couple pages more, she knew she is never going to find the page about these Cornish Pixies.

So the young witch closed the book again, took out her wand, because she was sure it was needed in this class and waited for the lesson to begin. She took a few more looks around the classroom, all the while she smiled innocently. In her head, she went over some charms she already knew, since they just might be exactly what she would need for this lesson today. But she also hoped she would learn a new spell here. Even though she was only a first year, she was positively confident she could shine if she only got the chance. And if she didn't get it, well, she just had to improvise then.

The first student to turn up simply nodded in Jake's direction, to which he replied with a small smile to say hello. He was always of the impression that those who didn't wish to speak shouldn't be pushed to speak. It would only make them feel more awkward in that moment.

And, the worry of small talk was removed a moment his daughter entered the classroom. Mimosa still didn't know who he was, and for the moment, that was probably best, but he couldn't help but feel better seeing her again. Her summer in India had done her well, by the look of the warm glow in her skin, and the smile on her features as she moved to his desk made his grow wider.

"Hey Mimosa!" He replied as she explained that she'd been to India. "Have you?" He asked rhetorically, loving that he could talk about this with the witch without him having to bring it up with her. Kit Harrington might have given him the details of her trip, but Jake would never come out with these facts without having been fed them by the witch before him. But, what happened next made Jake's heart swell, almost painfully, as Mimosa pulled out gifts for him.

It wasn't just him, either, a second parcel, labelled with his sister's name came in to view a moment later, and Jake smiled fondly. "Of course I will, she's out of the country at the moment, but I will get them to her. Thank you so much, for my present, I'll open it later!" Jake promised. "And, if you have time, we can practice Quidditch again, and you can tell me about your summer." Jake offered the witch before she moved off in to the room, though, not before Mercy had arrived.

The enthusiastic Gryffindor bounded up to him, before proclaiming she'd grown a whole five centimeters over the summer, and Jake didn't have to feign shock, or being impressed by this news. "Wow! That's amazing! Sounds like you had a busy summer with all that growing! You'll be as tall as me in no time!" He joked with the witch, though he knew that soon Mercy was not going to be so easily excited, and he was going to enjoy this whilst he could.

Though, he kept berating himself for having favourites, Jake couldn't help it.

More people entered, and Jake returned their greeting, before checking his watch and clapping his hands together to announce the start of his class.

"Okay everyone," Jake spoke, moving to put the two presents from Mimosa in his drawer out of the praying hands of the Cornish Pixies. "Today we're going to have lots of fun, but admin points first. To those who are new this year, my name is Jake, you don't need to call me professor, I don't like it." He explained, so that this was clear going forward. "Admin done, let the fun begin!

"Today we're going to be dealing with Cornish Pixies. I'm sure a few of you might have had an unfortunate run in with the pesky little things before, but so that everyone else knows what we're going to be coming up against, what is a Cornish Pixie?" Jake offered to the room, looking around expectantly for an answer.

OOC: Just so people are aware, I expect answers to questions to be in your OWN words. Don't copy from Wikipedia, or similar sites, please.

Once Jake had been given his presents and had promised to send Victoria hers, Mimosa tried to think of something else to say. She didn't want to go back go back and figure out where to stand. Luckily, she was so good at managing conflicts, Jake started talking about Quidditch. The Slytherin nodded enthusiastically. More than the distraction, some training would be good. Their first match was up in November and this time, she would have to face Mercy on the pitch. Maybe even Dia. She had to try and make sure not to win as much as she normally would.

Just as they had decided on a date, Mercy showed up, increasing Mimosa's grin by a zillion billion watts. While the Gryffindor informed Jake of ehr growth spurt, the younger witch immediately linked arms with Mercy and the two later found standing space together, away from the yucky boys!

More people arrived, Mimosa waving to those she knew and also waving to those she did not because why not? Waving was fun!

When Jake began the class, some students looked up excitedly, meaning they actually knew what those pixies were. Mimosa racked her brain because as usual, she had not looked at the textbook. She had however, seen the next best thing. It had been last year perhaps, when she had been siting with Gaspard while he read. She remembered seeing a picture of the creatures in one of his many books.

"They're blue, but shiny," she offered confidently, remembering what little she could of that sleepy evening. "They are really naughty and like to steal things, so maybe they steal glittery make up to make themselves shiny? I've seen some girls do that," she added for clarification.

Elena was going to answer but Mimosa did first. Elena waited for the young girl to finish before she spoke. The young pixies were crazy, everyone who read or encountered one of them knew that much about it. When Mimosa finished, Elena politely raised her hand before answering what she knew about them.

"Cornish pixies in my opinion are crazy, they love their little tricks and sometimes that can be highly annoying because they can practically do anything that will annoy a person" Elena didn't really like the pixies. They were too crazy for her. She loved creatures yes, but she could honestly live without the pixies, but in a way the Wizarding World needed them for other reasons that is. Elena was hoping she didn't get lifted into the air by one, her feet were better on the ground when it came to a pixie lifting her.

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Thanks Eve!!!

GuestGuest

Subject: Re: DADA: Lesson One -- Years 1 - 4 Thu May 17, 2018 5:52 pm

The witch was surprised when she heard the professor talk. He had an American accent. And she could swear the student who answered first had one, too. How interesting. She was expecting to hear many European accents, but American? It probably meant nothing, but she made a mental note, nonetheless. If she had time, she would ask about it.

Jade was positively annoyed that she couldn't find the page in her book before, which meant she was now unable to answer. However, when two of the students gave their answers, she immediately liked what she heard. They steal things and like to annoy people? I wonder if I may be able to use them against others. Her mischievous mind began working on a plan. She was sure today's lesson would involve some of those pixies. It was possible that they would even fly freely through the classroom. Perhaps if she annoyed them in some way, their behaviour would become more aggressive. The only problem could be that they would target her. Too risky. I don't want to be a victim. Or maybe it would be a good idea to take one with her. That seemed to be perfect. She could let the pixie cause chaos in the common room or something. But I bet the professor counted them. He'd know if one of them went missing. Except if I... She looked towards the windows. If she was able to make some of them escape, there would be a good chance one more missing wouldn't attract any more attention. But how is she going to transport it? It would probably need to be incapacitated in some way. Maybe today they would learn a charm that would do just that. Only, then there would be another problem. The students would know how to deal with these creatures then, so there really was no point to release one of them somewhere. Perhaps she could come up with something else during the lesson. For now she just smiled very innocently and waited for the professor to begin.

The first answer from Mimosa brought forth a soft laugh from Jake's lips at the idea of Cornish Pixies stealing glittery things to make them shiny. It was not, of course, a mean laugh at the young witch, merely a laugh that showed he appreciated the joke she'd made there.

"Very good, Mimosa, they're definitely blue, shiny and mischievous!" Jake agreed with her answer. "Though, to my knowledge, they don't make themselves glittery from their stolen goods. Take five points for your creative answer, though!" He insisted, turning his attention to the next answer he received.

The answer was not really an elaboration on the point that Mimosa had made, really, but it wasn't wrong, so Jake had to give some credit. "Right you are, too, Elena. Though careful not to repeat other people's points." Jake told her. "Have two points, though, for the contribution.

"Cornish Pixies are annoying little creatures, full of mischief and more than happy to make a witch, wizard or Muggle's life a living hell for the foreseeable time they're together. They're capable of small feats of magic, but mostly they just like to wreak havoc on the space they occupy. Today, we will be learning how to deal with the beasts. Which, I might add, is where today's fun comes in. You will, for now, not have any guidance on dealing with the pixies, because I want to see what you come up with.

"Please, though, don't use spells that can seriously harm these creatures." Jake insisted, before levitating a cage on to his desk. For a moment, he waited for the students to be ready, then, without further ado, he opened the door, and the chaos began.